You said, "Now that I'm on 77 liters [down from 103], I can slash" and "I'm going too fast to slash". I slash so much and so unexpectedly and at such speeds that it has PO'd some people who want me to sail in straight lines, and that includes boards of 110-115 liters (I haven't sailed anything bigger in > 20 years now, so I don't know how big these tips may help, but here goes.) Goya's wave boards imply that he likes to turn at speed, and your strap placement is set up for it, so these steps should work for you if that 103 isn't his freestyle board (too damned harsh-riding for it).

My Goya waves still occupy space in my garage and van for one simple reason: they work like all my other boards. I.E., they slash and turn like crazy regardless of size and speed (and terrain). I don't THINK yours are too wide-tailed for this, as these techniques work very well on a wide variety of boards. If you're already past this stage, maybe someone else will benefit.

When I try to slash a board with a rear center strap and all I get is plowing, or a "Who ... ME?", or "Naah; I wanna go over THERE, and I'm the boss", I give it one last chance to eagerly submit to my will before it goes to somebody who values its other attributes over slashing. That last chance is defined by these slashing/steering inputs, in increasing order of effort and necessity as boards get bigger or wider:
1. Press down with back toes in center back strap. (Any board that won't slash very quickly in response to that gets sold to someone who doesn't like that level of responsiveness.)
2. Pull with the back hand. That doubles any candidate board's slash response. I do that even on keepers when I want to ... well ... double the slash (the bigger the board, the more that helps prevent plowing). You can simulate that feel by sprinting flat out past a flag pole, extending one hand out to that side, and grabbing the pole with an iron grip. You'd better be ready for some serious g's, cause you're gonna put the "whip" in "whiplash".
3. Rake the mast forward for even greater enhancement and a very noticeable reduction in a bigger or straighter board's desire to ignore your will and command.
4. Thrust the mast hard downwind into the turn, almost to laydown proportions. That really helps when you're at absolutely top speed on a big board in a huge gust on rough terrain. It'll make that 103 turn like that 77. Any board that doesn't respond NOW to all four of those commands simultaneously is made of concrete, is bolted to the ground, has seats on both sides, and is labeled "Park Property". 3 and 4 combined add much emphasis to lee rail bite and tracking, letting you rip off hard slashes at speeds that are scary even in straight lines.
5. Swear. That will focus your frustration and add emphasis to your physical commands.

And once you've tried #1 through #4 (5 is optional and ultimately unnecessary), you'll want to ditch that medieval hook and spring for a roller bar. Hooks are for sailing in straight lines, not rapid, sudden, random maneuvering. With a hook, you sorta gotta sail straight or unhook to maneuver, whereas a roller bar provides a lot of overlap between the straight line world and the ant-tracks world.

One caveat: if you're underpowered at the moment, you're more likely to bury the rail and plow a furrow than rip off a high-g slash. There are times to tiptoe through turns and times to rip through them, and the line becomes pretty clear pretty quickly. Fortunately, the only penalty for guessing wrong is a flubbed slash which loses the plane. Big deal.

Thanks guys, I wish I had more tricks to show but with the cold water there was really no way I was going to try much.

I don't know whether you've experienced this but when the water is this cold, when falling, it hurts all four of your balls, your eyeballs and your balls balls. Man, is that unpleasant. I guess after the initial shrinkage it's tolerable

Mike, I appreciate your feedback, I love slashing, and would love to sail by a wave spot to "rip it up".

This year I have realized that my 105 is too big for my 5.3. Yet, it's been a great board with excellent slashing abilities. I enjoy it much with my 7.0. I just have too big of a gap between 105 and 77, I'll be looking for something around 85 to take care of the problem.

I do prefer boards that can turn and is why I steered towards goya's back then. I've try a few freestyle/waves but I feel a little underwhelmed with their turning abilities. Of course, they plane early and go fast but that's not much of a concern for me when it's "blowing"

There were many remarkable ideas in your reply, some of them did go over my head, and some I completely relate.

For my 155-160lbs, I believe my 105 became my big board, and I have it setup with one rear strap. In fact, I wish the board was entirely designed to be ridden with one footstrap but I do understand the need for manufacturers to satisfy the most customers.

Some of the reasons I can slash harder with my 77 are because the board/sail combo is more balanced. Being overboarded with the 5.3 on the 105, it makes the board stiffer. However, I have noticed that on the 77, when overpowered, I can't really get the rail to dig in and safely carve. That is very likely due to my skill level here.

I thought it was interesting to notice that when carving at slow speed the spray is made of big heavy drops of water, but at high speed, the drops are smaller and the spray whiter.

With all that said, it's not easy to commit and really slash at high speeds, especially in chop when the rail can get buried. On a clean face though, ugh what a nice feel.

On the harness hook, since I've setup my lines nearly touching each other, I got pretty satisfied with the responsiveness of my sails. I used to ride a roller but it unscrewed and snapped. Since then I returned to the hook. On my harness the bar does slide and sometimes it gets annoying since it can stay to the side from the last move.

Mike, I appreciate your feedback, I love slashing, and would love to sail by a wave spot to "rip it up". It's not easy to commit and really slash at high speeds, especially in chop when the rail can get buried. On a clean face though, ugh what a nice feel.

I've try a few freestyle/waves but I feel a little underwhelmed with their turning abilities.

There were many remarkable ideas in your reply, some of them did go over my head, and some I completely relate.

Being overboarded with the 5.3 on the 105, it makes the board stiffer. However, I have noticed that on the 77, when overpowered, I can't really get the rail to dig in and safely carve. That is very likely due to my skill level here.

I thought it was interesting to notice that when carving at slow speed the spray is made of big heavy drops of water, but at high speed, the drops are smaller and the spray whiter.

On the harness hook, since I've setup my lines nearly touching each other, I got pretty satisfied with the responsiveness of my sails. I used to ride a roller but it unscrewed and snapped.

I prefer clean faces, too, but in the river that requires unusually steady winds, so I'm talking about chop. Techniques #2-4 help the lee rail stick even in heavy chop, even on boards not designed strictly for turning. #2 and #3 help drive the sail's COE forward to help engage more forward rail, and #4 loads that rail to help it remain engaged in chop.

FSW boards do require greater rider input than wave boards do to slash hard, but that's what #3-4 achieve. Even if those ideas aren't clear on paper, they will click immediately on the water. #2, especially, will yank a small board (say, > 90L) around the bend so hard your knees may buckle in surprise the first time, and will make that 105 turn more like the 77. #3 & 4 should extend your control level and confidence while slashing hard at top speed in chop. The only time I'm afraid to slash hard is when I'm literally overpowered, as in not in control even in beam reaches, and recognize that bearing off only part way would be literally dangerous hooked in. If I want to go downwind during those gusts, I make sure that slash carries me past a mere broad reach to nearly straight downwind where I can maintain some degree of safety by walking the power tightrope between a dead run (straight downwind) and a higher broad reach. That turns totally uncontrollable wind into a cruise if downwind is an acceptable place to be.

I've observed, but never thought about, the water droplet size difference. I'm going to guess it's due to the greater energy imparted by higher-g turns being able to break big blobs into drops and drops further into spray. That ... and the resulting cascade onto our heads at the ensuing bottom turn sometimes ... are enhanced by using the back foot to literally slam the very tail of the board into whatever little piece of chop we're turning off of.

You don't need waves or big swell for any of this; anything knee high will work as long as we have plenty of power at the moment. Turning expends power, as evidenced by the water it throws up. If most of our sail power at the moment is required for planing (or for speed on a rockered board), each slash has the potential for slowing us down, maybe even dropping off a plane. One common solution is stepping forward with the back foot to unload the tail, but that takes time we don't have if the next, opposite slash is just a second or two away. Another solution is extra power on tap ... yet another reason to rig big. A third solution is finesse, but I prefer rugby to ballet, given a choice. Besides, ballet requires greater skill and can't always compensate for temporary or sustained holes in the wind, and every moment of slogging is 57 seconds of our lives wasted (I'll concede two seconds to emergency skill development and one second to light air freestyle practice).

I check my roller bar screw for slop EVERY time I put it on by pinching both ends of the screw between thumb and finger finger and wiggling. I've thus been using the same bar and roller for many years. Others here agree that your narrow line stance achieves much the same lateral freedom, so maybe those are just two ways to skin the same cat. I've tried both and tread middle ground ... roller and a reduced line span.

Yes, roller bars' bolts are their weak link if not kept TIGHT 100% of the time. The stresses change dramatically and further unscrewing becomes likely if the threaded bolt backs out even a tiny fraction. I clean them, red Loctite them, and check them constantly.

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